- 7/14/2025
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00:00When this 60 tons of high-tech military hardware rumbles onto the battlefield, there is absolutely
00:29nowhere to hide.
00:33This hard-hitting heavyweight's main function, the total and utter annihilation of enemy
00:38tanks.
00:41The destruction that it can cause is second to none.
00:50Inside its state-of-the-art turret is a man-machine interface that enables it to destroy an Iraqi
00:55tank at an astonishing distance of over two-and-a-half miles, the longest-range tank-to-tank
01:02kill in history.
01:06In Operation Iraqi Freedom, its top-secret impenetrable armour ensures that it does not suffer a single
01:12loss to enemy fire.
01:14It was unbeatable for anything that the Iraqis had.
01:24Using extraordinary archived film and re-enactments, the operations rumbles onto the battlefield
01:30with this serious contender for the crown of the best main battle tank in the world.
01:35It is the Challenger tank, British heavyweight.
01:40March 27, 2003.
01:4314 Challenger tanks set their laser-guided targeting systems on 14 Iraqi T-55s breaking out of the
01:50city of Basra.
01:51Within minutes, all of the T-55s are burning wrecks, whilst the British suffer no damage.
01:58After a minute or so, the fuel would ignite, and the ammunition was on the vehicle, and
02:05then they'd have a big plume of black smoke.
02:10It is a contest between the most widely manufactured tank in the world and one of the most technologically
02:16advanced.
02:17The Challenger is untouchable.
02:18For the British, it is vindication of over 90 years of tank design and development.
02:33This classic story of innovation and invention stretches back to World War I, when the first
02:39tanks were built.
02:41They rolled over the bloody battlefield of the Somme in 1916.
02:46These revolutionary new weapons were used in the hope that they could break the entrenched
02:50stalemate of the Western Front.
02:51It was a mechanical solution, first put forward by Winston Churchill, to smash a way through
02:57the German lines, for, say, infantry, cavalry and the regular army to follow, and finish off
03:02the war.
03:03It was putting together a whole series of ideas, having a vehicle that had a machine gun on it,
03:08that could advance, that could cross trenches, could provide protection and all those things.
03:14It was having all those different qualities and wrapping it all up in one vehicle.
03:19The first tanks had a tremendous impact on the enemy soldiers, who ran for their lives.
03:25When the Germans saw it for the first time, there was total shock, and people calling it
03:29the devil and all the rest of it, and that kind of psychological impact of the tank actually
03:34still remains.
03:35But, of course, when it first came on the battlefield, you know, it was brand new, so the psychological
03:40impact was doubled.
03:41But the early tanks were slow and unreliable, and could not turn the tide of the Great War.
03:51By 1928, Britain was a hotbed of new ideas on how tanks should be built and used.
03:57The Experimental Tank Force was set up, a highly mechanized all-arms unit that was years ahead
04:03of its time.
04:04Britain was perceived to be the leading nation at this time.
04:10There was interest from all around the world.
04:12The United States sent over observers and looked.
04:15The French took some interest.
04:16The people who really looked closely were the Germans.
04:22In 1940, the Experimental Tank Force's fast-moving tactics were put into practice by 2,500 German
04:30Panzers as they cut through Europe during Hitler's Blitzkrieg.
04:35It marked the beginning of a World War in which the tank would come of age.
04:42But between 1928 and 1940, Britain had allowed its own tank technology to become obsolete, and
04:49the rapid German advance through France saw much of her armor being left behind during
04:54the evacuation from Dunkirk.
04:57As the war progressed, the British relied heavily on the American-built Sherman M4.
05:03It went on to become the universal tank of the Allies.
05:09On the Russian front, the Soviets used their T-34s to spearhead their advance from Kursk
05:14to Berlin.
05:17The Nazis tried to fight back with the Tiger and King Tiger.
05:21Although fearsome fighting machines, these were heavy and difficult to repair.
05:26The Tiger is a formidable-looking tank, but there were only about 1,300 of them.
05:33You put that up against, what, 50,000 Shermans, 70,000 T-34, there's no contest.
05:38After the Second World War, tank designers sought the perfect balance between firepower, armor,
05:46and mobility to produce the ultimate tank.
05:52The British were determined that they would never fall behind the times again.
05:57In 1945, they had built the Centurion.
05:59Heavily armored and reliable, it went on to influence the Challenger, and was still in
06:04service 50 years later.
06:06The tank was a good, fundamental design.
06:10And better still, it could be improved upon an oil.
06:15By the time it finished its service for the British Army, armor had increased, range, finding, all sorts of things.
06:24But there's an all-round package.
06:25I don't think it could be picked.
06:34In 1967, the predecessor to the Challenger entered service, the Chieftain.
06:40It was of a similar size and weight, and was armed with the best gun in the world, the
06:45rifled 120mm.
06:48Its potential victims were Soviet tanks if they attacked across the open plains of Europe.
06:53The tanks were the mobile fire force that were designed to be sent in to block these
07:03attacks and hold the Russians so that artillery could destroy them.
07:09It was undoubtedly the most destructive tank on the battlefield.
07:13The gun was superb.
07:18At the time, the Chieftain was the most heavily armored tank in the world.
07:22But its principal weakness was its reliability.
07:25It was the one with the engineer vehicle next to it changing the engine.
07:31It really did have a very bad reputation.
07:33But it wasn't the Chieftain's mechanical problems that would force the British into
07:37designing the Challenger.
07:39By the early 1970s, anti-tank weapons had become so deadly that the military throughout the
07:45world questioned the effectiveness of their main battle tanks.
07:51Anti-tank weapons have always worked on the principle of piercing tank armor and killing
07:56the crew inside.
07:57Early kinetic energy rounds would punch their way through using sheer mass and high velocity.
08:04The armor-piercing discarding sabot loses its outer casing as it flies out of the barrel and
08:09becomes a dense metal dart capable of piercing thick steel.
08:15Heche, or high-explosive squash head rounds, explode on the armor, causing a scab of metal to
08:22detach on the inside that ricochets around, cutting the crew to pieces.
08:29Heat, or high-explosive anti-tank shells, use chemical energy to create a lethal jet of
08:34molten metal and gas that pierces the armor.
08:39But it was the development of man-portable missile systems which could penetrate up to
08:43twenty-four inches of armor that forced tank designers to rethink.
08:48A tank built to deflect this technology would have to weigh in at an impossible 200 tons.
08:56Tank designers had to devise protection that could defeat these lethal new weapons.
09:04In 1971, British scientists in top-secret government labs fitted an experimental tank with a ground-breaking
09:11new armor called Chobham.
09:13It would later be used on the Challenger, and make it one of the most inventive fighting
09:17machines in the world.
09:22In 1983, the Challenger Mark I, one of the most lethal main battle tanks in the world, was issued
09:29to the British Army.
09:30I thought, that's for me, you know, I want to get on board with that vehicle and see
09:34what damage it could do with it, to be honest with you.
09:39The Challenger 1's predecessor, the Chieftain, had a massive influence on the design of this
09:44new tank.
09:46Despite being in development for seven years, there was 75 percent commonality between the
09:51Chieftain and the Challenger 1.
09:54The new arrival was similar in its main armament, hull design, and crew positions.
09:59The Chieftain's engine and suspension system had been replaced, which made a huge difference
10:04to its cross-battlefield performance.
10:06Everyone was very envious of A squadron, because they did a lot of mileage, a lot of exercises.
10:11And, you know, we were still on our chieftain, pottering along at 30 kilometers an hour, and
10:18they were driving two exercises along the range road at 40, 50 miles an hour.
10:25The Challenger Mark I is 26 feet long, over 11 feet wide, and weighs in at over 60 tons.
10:31It's main armament is the lethally accurate 120-millimeter gun that can fire a variety
10:38of munitions, including the deadly depleted uranium rounds.
10:43The tank carries two machine guns, used to suppress enemy ground troops that get too close.
10:48It also has dischargers that can lay smoke.
10:54The main fighting compartment can rotate 360 degrees and houses three of the crew, including
11:00the commander.
11:00He has all-round vision through periscopes in an independently traversed cupola.
11:06The driver's compartment is at the front of the tank.
11:11Length steering levers control the vehicle's direction.
11:15The engine and transmission compartment houses a Perkins, formerly Rolls-Royce, engine.
11:21This gives the Challenger a top speed of 35 miles per hour cross-country and a range
11:25of nearly 300 miles.
11:28This is a main battle tank that can get into harm's way in a hurry.
11:33I think the crews knew that it was more reliable, it had better protection, and it was a faster
11:41vehicle.
11:42So I think, overall, that they were more than happy with Challenger 1 when it came up.
11:46But the real quantum leap was made with the Challenger's Chobam armour, a technology that
11:53was the equivalent of putting the crew behind 40 inches of hardened steel.
11:58It was developed in the late 60s by British scientist Dr. Gilbert Harvey.
12:03But it was the American M1 Abrams that would be the first tank in production with this crew-saving
12:08technology in place.
12:10Now, exactly what's in Chobam armour is still a state secret.
12:15What we do know is it's very effective.
12:20Chobam is thought to be a composite armour made up of several layers of nylon micromesh, bonded
12:25on both sides by titanium alloy, space ceramics, and other sheets of unidentified armour plating.
12:32This sandwich of top secret materials is able to absorb and disperse the energy of the incoming
12:39round, protecting the men inside the tank.
12:49In a world of high-tech armour and battle-winning firepower, the Challenger is still only as good
12:54as the four-man crew that take her into battle.
12:59The tank is controlled by its commander.
13:02He liaises with superiors and passes orders down to his crew.
13:06When the commander is given to close down, he drops into the turret to use both his day
13:11and night sights to view the battlefield.
13:14Once you've driven the tank, fired the tank as a gunner, carried out the drills as an operator,
13:20once you actually get to command your own tank, that is the pinnacle of being on board a vehicle.
13:27The loader, or operator, is second in command.
13:30He is often trained as both gunner and driver, and can take over both these jobs in combat.
13:35You're in charge of all the radios, so if anything comes over the air, you've got to be the first point of contact to listen for that.
13:42You're also listening for the gunner or the commander to give you the fire order.
13:46And you're mainly the mother of the crew as well, while you're the operator,
13:49because you've got to think about feeding and watering all the guys as well.
13:53His other job is to load ammunition into the gun's breech by hand.
13:58The speed with which he works is essential to the tank's survival.
14:06The gunner uses a laser to establish the range of his target,
14:10and a computerized sighting system to increase the chances of that essential first round hit.
14:16His job is a combination of marksman and computer technician.
14:21As the gunner, you'll probably see the least as well of what actually happens,
14:25because you've got your head in the sides, you pull the trigger,
14:27and by the time you actually realise anything's happening, you've already hit the target.
14:34The driver steers the tank from the front of the vehicle.
14:37It's a cramped and awkward position.
14:41You're, like, at a semi-angle, nigh on lying down,
14:45but you've got, like, obviously a small day sight, and that is all your vision that you've got.
14:49You've got, you know, you're, like, semi-blinkered through there.
14:53You're central in the vehicle itself.
14:55But certainly driving it is a good experience.
14:58When in combat, the crew are a self-sufficient unit
15:01that have to live in a space only slightly bigger than the interior of a family car.
15:06You wouldn't want to remain locked down inside the vehicle for days on end,
15:12but you can expect to be closed down for probably up to maybe 18 hours a day.
15:16We have got the facility, if necessary, to get rid of all your bodily fluids, et cetera,
15:22if you have to in a situation like that, but we wouldn't like to think it would come to that.
15:26This great British vehicle even has its own tea-making facilities, the BV, or boiling vessel.
15:33Once it comes to the boil, just get the cups, put it underneath and make the tea.
15:37But it also doubles up for heating up your food as well.
15:39So you've got the boil-in-the-bag food.
15:41So you can put your boil-in-the-bag food inside whilst it boils.
15:44Once it's boiled, make the tea, dish out the food, cups of tea.
15:48Lovely. All done in an instant.
15:50But it was the combat capabilities of the Challenger 1 that were put to the test in 1987
15:58during a competition called the Canadian Army Trophy.
16:02Set up to improve gunnery skills in the members of NATO,
16:06this Tank Olympics was used by manufacturers and nations to prove their tank superiority.
16:12We were training for about six months prior to the competition.
16:15We were treated with cute gloves.
16:17Nobody wanted the CAT gunners to get injured.
16:20They were the gunners, or so it would appear,
16:23that they were going to win the competition for the British Army.
16:26Clearly when you're taking on the Americans, the Germans, the Dutch,
16:30and everybody else involved in NATO,
16:32there was a lot of, you know, chest out and trying to prove a point.
16:36On the 15th of June, 1987, the competition began.
16:40Success depended on accuracy and the rapid acquisition of targets.
16:44Our first run had registered the highest hit score of any of the teams that day.
16:51Because our times were slower than the others, we were actually in last place.
16:55On our second run, the wiper system on Chiefsland Challenger 1 was pretty poor.
16:59The wipers for all the sites very rarely worked.
17:02If they did what I already did was smear water across the sites.
17:05Unfortunately for us, on the last day, it tipped it down with rain.
17:09At the end of the five-day competition, the Challenger came in last.
17:14It was deeply embarrassing for an army that prides itself on its world-beating gunnery skills.
17:20It was the Challenger's darkest day.
17:24I think our squadron got the feeling that they'd let everybody down.
17:27They feel they could have done better.
17:29And I think, looking back now, we probably should have done better than we did.
17:32It was clear that from a fire control system that we were starting to lag behind with the rest of our fellow countries in NATO.
17:42Appearing to me because we were using technology that was now out of date.
17:45So clearly it was now time for the British Army to look at a new main battle tank.
17:51The post-mortem was intensive.
17:55The British Army decided to design a new tank, but stick with the Challenger name.
18:00In 1991, before the new model would be ready, the Challenger 1 would be in the thick of the action in Operation Desert Storm.
18:10It was about to go head-to-head with the heavily armed forces of Saddam Hussein.
18:15So just how would this tank that had fared so badly in competitions perform in the ultimate test of war?
18:28On the 2nd of August, 1990, Saddam Hussein's vast army took over neighboring Kuwait in a rapid 24-hour attack.
18:35The United Nations coalition force was amassed to expel the Iraqi invaders.
18:41180 Challenger tanks arrived in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
18:47Saddam promised the mother of all battles, and the British desert rats prepared for war.
18:56The coalition forces were about to take on the 4th largest army in the world,
19:00which had deployed over 300,000 men and over 4,000 tanks, including the super-destructive T-72.
19:08We've got a very big gun, that's a 125 millimetre, which is bigger than the gun on the Challenger.
19:13It was thought that these could pose a potential problem.
19:18As well as heavy armor, the crews faced the threat of biological and chemical attack.
19:23Their Challenger tanks were fully equipped to deal with this.
19:26Well, once you're completely closed down, there's directly a perfect seal within the vehicle itself.
19:34You would place your respirator on and you can still work and fight the vehicle.
19:39In a lot of circumstances it can be quite unbearable, but you know that you're doing it for the right reasons.
19:44Massive air strikes were launched against the Iraqis.
19:52It was hoped that this air campaign would force an Iraqi surrender and a ground offensive would not be needed.
19:59The Coalition decided that a short, sharp land assault was necessary,
20:05and General Norman Schwarzkopf planned a flanking manoeuvre to trap the Iraqi forces.
20:10Part of the ground assault would seal off the western end of the battlefield.
20:15This would coincide with a direct advance towards Kuwait City,
20:19and with armored divisions racing north, then east through southern Iraq,
20:24in a hook that in theory would surround Saddam's army.
20:32At 4 in the morning on the 24th of February 1991,
20:36the ground force attack on Kuwait began.
20:4060-ton challengers rumbled across the border with a point to prove.
20:44The Coalition forces advanced at a lightning pace along a 300-mile front.
20:51Over the following days and nights, the demoralized Iraqi troops faced an onslaught
20:58from the relentless firepower of the American Abrams tank and the British challenger.
21:05The tank demonstrated in the first Gulf War that it was more than capable of going out its mission,
21:11and it proved without a doubt that he was capable of doing the job it was employed to do, i.e. fight wars.
21:18Blinded at night by smoke from oil fires, the Iraqis could not target the advancing challengers,
21:24whilst they were able to use their thermal observation and gunnery system, or TOGS,
21:29to home in on the enemy vehicles.
21:30Against a green background, the heat emissions of the Iraqis showed up on the thermal sites.
21:37When the tower's just been engaged, first of all, you can't see anything, because there's the dispersion caused by the gun firing itself.
21:50There's a mass amount of heat and smoke that goes on. The site is momentarily clouded, however it clears after about a second or two.
21:58You get a very good picture through the thermal site normally of the target itself.
22:02The TOGS system was a massive advantage, and allowed the challengers to engage at long range with little risk to themselves.
22:09Shattered Iraqi tanks littered the featureless desert terrain.
22:16The fact that when you've got this weapon system, and then seeing that strike at the target end,
22:21and seeing the destruction that you can cause, is second to none.
22:25But it was the challenger's 120mm gun that would earn it a place in military history,
22:36when it scored the longest range tank-to-tank kill ever.
22:42The challenger gunner selected his target and fired.
22:46The projectile was expelled out of the 120mm gun at a speed of a mile per second.
22:52It travelled for over two and a half miles before making contact.
22:57Even at this incredible distance, it destroyed the Iraqi tank.
23:02Now that's an awful long way to shoot. It's almost further than you can see.
23:08If it hadn't been for the desert, they wouldn't be able to see it.
23:13Up against the superior technology of the coalition forces' main battle tanks,
23:17and relentless airstrikes, it took just 100 hours of ground war to win a stunning victory.
23:25The challenger destroyed 300 armoured vehicles,
23:29whilst the Iraqis were unable to take any of the challengers out of combat.
23:33In the words of the Desert Rats commander,
23:35I have always said that the challenger is a tank built for war, not competition.
23:41It was also clear in that war that it was good against that generation of Soviet tanks,
23:48the 55, T-55s and T-72s.
23:51The new generation it might have more problems against.
23:54Already, by 1991, development of a new tank was underway.
23:57The challenger 1 did have problems with its air filtration system,
24:05but in this high-tech war, it held its own.
24:10Back in Britain, design teams were already creating its successor, the challenger 2.
24:16When it was completed in 1994, its turret was packed with more lines of software
24:21than the flight control system of a fighter aircraft.
24:28Challenger 2 looked like its predecessor.
24:31Its hull and running gear were very similar.
24:33It was there that the comparisons ended.
24:38The turret was a radically different design
24:41that highlighted that there were 150 improvements on this tank.
24:45The challenger 2 was slightly heavier, but faster.
24:48It had a new power plant with a 26-litre diesel engine.
24:53The gun was a deadlier version of the record-holding 120mm,
24:59and the armour that surrounded this fighting machine was an improved form of Chobham,
25:05codenamed Dorchester.
25:09The only real clue on the exterior that the new tank had only 4% commonality
25:14with its predecessor was the relocated TOGS site,
25:18which gave both the gunner and commander a clearer view of the battlefield.
25:23I don't think we should have ever called it Challenger 2.
25:26I think we should have given it a new name, because so much was different.
25:29When you actually climbed onto the vehicle, you started to think,
25:32well, no, there's something different about this.
25:34You get into the vehicle and you just not reckon, apart from the gun,
25:37there'd be nothing on there that you'd recognise.
25:41And so the fighting compartment was just speasage.
25:44The real improvement was in the new hunter-killer fire control system,
25:49a computer-aided procedure that allowed the commander to stay one step ahead of his gunner at all times.
25:54Predominantly, you would expect the commander to pick up a target first,
26:00and we use a system called target management,
26:03which effectively means using his own sight independently of the gunner's sighting system.
26:09Using his roof-mounted sight, the commander selects his kill.
26:13The turret moves round and the gunner takes over the engagement,
26:17whilst the commander scans and selects his next victim.
26:20Once the gunner has destroyed the first tank, the turret automatically slews round to align the gun on the commander's prepared target,
26:31and the procedure starts again.
26:33With the hunter-killer system, the challenger could unleash a barrage of lethally accurate fire
26:41that allowed it to destroy eight enemy targets in just 40 seconds.
26:45When I got to go down the range and fire it on the move, awesome, absolutely awesome.
26:55Here was a bigger and better tank, waiting to earn its spurs in the field of combat.
27:01The wait would not be long.
27:03On March the 20th, 2003, coalition forces invaded Iraq.
27:11Their main adversary, Saddam Hussein's still powerful Iraqi army.
27:16The new and improved Challenger IIs would be at one of the armoured spearheads.
27:22So how would they perform in the cauldron of combat?
27:25In February 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom began,
27:35as coalition forces launched an awesome display of high-tech military hardware from land, sea and air,
27:42with the aim of destroying Saddam Hussein's military infrastructure.
27:45UK operations in this war were conducted under the name of Operation Telec,
27:56as 43,000 British personnel were deployed.
28:00The Challenger I had proven itself in the first Gulf War.
28:05Now it was time for Challenger II to win its spurs.
28:12120 of the high-tech tanks were shipped into Kuwait and adapted for desert warfare.
28:19There was a lot of up-armouring that went on, a lot of slab armour went on the side,
28:23which basically gave the tanks and the tracks and the main hull of the tank a lot of added protection.
28:27And there was also a form of canvas skirt that went around the base of the tank,
28:31so that while the same amount of dust was being kicked up by the tracks,
28:34it wasn't getting sucked straight into the engine instead.
28:37The Challenger crews prepared themselves.
28:40Many were going into action for the first time.
28:44There was a great feeling that if something was happening, you wanted to be a part of it.
28:48There was also no doubt a bit of apprehension about going to war,
28:51so it was a slight sense of stepping into the unknown, really.
28:54You would get some fairly long periods of silence while people are trying to reflect their thoughts,
28:59and it would take somebody to drop in a quick funny to shake everybody out of that,
29:03their thoughts, and then concentrate on what the job was in hand.
29:06In the desert conditions, the new Crude Temperature Control System, or CTCS, was essential.
29:13The heat coming in through the vehicle itself, and as soon as you open up any of the hatches,
29:19the heat just surging inside, and it was a great morale boost, I would say,
29:22to have the actual CTCS up and running on the vehicle.
29:28On March the 20th, 2003, the new Challenger 2 tanks rumbled over the border
29:35at one of the spearheads of the Allied ground attack.
29:37The biggest problem we had ourselves was getting past the reporters at the Iraqi border itself,
29:42just pushing through the television cameras, you just couldn't do.
29:45It was just an absolute bedlam on the border.
29:48As the main body of US forces advanced across the desert towards Baghdad,
29:53the challengers of the British 7th Armored Brigade concentrated their attack through the marshlands
29:57towards Iraq's second city of Basrah in the south.
30:02Initially, they discovered that the Allied air attacks had had a devastating effect.
30:08All we came across were mainly abandoned enemy positions, abandoned tanks, trench networks,
30:12and basically all the locals saying that the Iraqi army had run the previous day.
30:18It was still opened up, I was looking around, and it just all sensed as though
30:22we were still in queue here, as though nothing was really happening.
30:24As the tanks moved deeper into Iraq, they came under fire from the Fedayeen, paramilitaries loyal to Saddam.
30:41For myself, it was the time when I actually stood there in the loader's side and thought,
30:46well, what can the tank stop, what sort of round will it be able to take, and it was a bit scary.
30:52Initially, it was just small arms fired, which you could hear just bouncing off the hull.
30:56That wasn't a drone at all.
30:58There's always been somewhat a lingering suspicion about how potent rocket-propelled grenades really were.
31:04But the first one we heard hit the side of the turret.
31:06All it was was just a big bang inside.
31:09The rapid the brain clicks in, you think, crikey, that was a rocket-propelled grenade.
31:13And we're all still here. Fantastic.
31:14On the night of March the 26th, a squadron of challengers from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
31:25moved towards the suburbs of Basra to provide support to commanders who were under attack.
31:30And we were to head south of Basra by some 30 Ks to marry up with the three commander brigade.
31:40They didn't have any heavy armour protection.
31:42The challengers embarked on a night drive to get to their ground troops.
31:46In the darkness, they attempted a perilous water crossing using new technology.
31:50We were on the move probably for about four or five hours or so.
31:55And then we crossed part of the Châtel Arab using these M3 rigs.
32:00And I think that was the first time that that had actually been achieved on these new type of rigs.
32:06It was quite a steep drop leading onto there and a steep drop leading off as well.
32:10And it must have been pretty daunting for the driver.
32:13Pull one stick wrong and you might end up in the canal, so...
32:15Just turn the driver and take it easy. Don't do too many pulling with the sticks.
32:22Just be calm. Take it down nice and steady and get onto the ferry.
32:33By dawn, the challengers were in position and ready for their advance.
32:38We heard that there was a company of T-55s that had moved out of Basra
32:43and were progressing towards the Marines.
32:47And it was our job to intercept them.
32:52The main battle tank that the challengers were about to go head to head with
32:56was the Russian-built T-55.
33:01With its low silhouette, stabilized gun and dome-shaped turret,
33:06it set the pace in tank design until the 1970s.
33:08But the men of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard would still treat it with respect.
33:13It was highly mobile.
33:17And in the right hands, if it could get close enough,
33:20that hundred-millimeter gun could still cause severe damage.
33:23We heard over the radio contact T-55, which is, I think, the first time we'd actually heard that for real.
33:36The Iraqis were lured into a trap, thinking that just a small infantry force was attacking them.
33:42They moved into the challengers' sights.
33:43It was a very good opportunity to ensure that you use both thermal and the day sights, so you're flicking from one to the other.
33:49And between the commander and the gunner, you'd establish and confirm exactly what that vehicle was, and then go from there.
33:57At a range of 1,500 meters, the men started to pick off the Iraqi tanks.
34:02The operators reloaded at eight rounds a minute.
34:04All you can really do is hope to God that your gunner's faster than the gunner on the opposite side,
34:10because there's nothing else you can really do.
34:13And I just hope that the main armament fires first time, which it mainly does.
34:21They would strike the target, which we've seen through the sights,
34:24and maybe after a minute or so, the fuel would ignite and the ammunition goes on the vehicle,
34:29and then they'd have a big plume of black smoke.
34:31The challengers launched a devastating firestorm.
34:35Within minutes, 14 Iraqi tanks were destroyed with no British tank losses.
34:40I opened up my hatch, and I'd look about, and it was sort of a scene out of the movies.
34:46There was two T-55s that was burning, and then just beyond them there was a big concrete sign of Saddam Hussein on it.
34:53It was just getting light as well, so it was something like I was in a movie.
34:56In such conditions like that, it is a sense of relief that actually you've been able to destroy an enemy tank before it has had the opportunity to have a go at destroying yourself.
35:08The cutting edge challengers were far superior to the T-55, a tank that was at its best during the Cold War.
35:20An officer at the battle described the difference in technology as like a bike against a motor car.
35:25I felt that no matter what the fuel is, it wouldn't be a problem.
35:31Challenger 2, it's on the move, full speed, front front hit, 99% of the tank.
35:37It's a shock action, push in as quick as you can, don't stop, keep moving.
35:40Later in the conflict, a Challenger 2 took a direct hit from a 100mm cannon of a T-55.
35:48This time, it was the armour technology of the tank that saved it from the enemy.
35:54It hit the frontal armour, and all it did was ignite the panels, and no damage at all to the structure of the vehicle.
36:00The tank's survivability would soon become legendary among its crews when a stranded Challenger repelled a sustained attack on rocket-propelled grenades and an anti-tank missile.
36:14In this incredible episode, the tank's top secret armour would prove itself as a life saver.
36:1930th of April, 2003. Operation Iraqi Freedom is in full flow.
36:31The new and improved Challenger 2 tanks, crewed by the British Desert Rats, fight a military force fiercely loyal to Saddam Hussein.
36:38The Royal Scots Dragoon guards rumbled towards the town of Abu al-Qasib on the outskirts of Basra.
36:51We were given an objective to take, and we advanced into the suburbs.
36:57Unfortunately, we came up against some quite stiff resistance.
36:59As the tanks push forward, the Iraqi fight back becomes intense.
37:09One of the fedeheen jumped out, fired a machine gun bust that struck the driver's sight, and also an RPG round that struck the frontal armour.
37:21Under sustained heavy fire, Sergeant Baird decides to reverse.
37:27At that crucial moment, his commander's periscope is shattered by another rocket-propelled grenade.
37:36That blinded me to reverse, which I was using, to reverse my driver.
37:42Confusion rained then. The vehicle landed in the ditch.
37:46My two tracks came off, and then they started picking off our external sights.
37:52The Iraqis have carefully targeted the weak points on the tank.
37:55Its commander's periscopes, gunner's sight, and driver's view are destroyed.
38:02Its fighting capability is crippled.
38:03We had an auxiliary sight, which was a backup sight for us.
38:10Machine gun of the stoppage.
38:11We had the main armament, which was working perfectly.
38:14Despite the constant bombardment, the tank's Chobam armour is doing its job.
38:19With the headsets with the crew guards, there wasn't much noise from the RPGs.
38:25It was just a dull thud.
38:27There was only the one armament that was fired at my vehicle that did create a noise, which rocked the vehicle.
38:34The Challenger takes a direct hit from an anti-tank missile.
38:39Have a look at that chain gun again.
38:41Amazingly, the top secret armour is able to withstand the explosion.
38:45It just created a little bit of sparks, which threw back my loader.
38:50He damaged his wrist, but there was no intel damage at all within the vehicle.
38:55Despite their growing confidence in the capabilities of their tank, the men are still on their own and surrounded by enemy troops.
39:02We were scared to death. We were very worried and a lot of emotions just when the three of us in the turret.
39:13But we were reassured by our troop leader that everyone was fine. They were coming up to help us.
39:19The rest of the troop provides covering fire for the stranded men until they can carry out a dangerous rescue under fire.
39:25It was a ten hour operation to remove this vehicle, two recovery vehicles, and it was only under darkness that we managed to fully and successfully extract that vehicle.
39:38The Challenger survives eight RPG hits, a strike from an anti-tank missile and heavy machine gun fire. The men remain safe.
39:47The enemy had time to really focus and aim accurately at the weaker points of the vehicle.
39:53It was quite reassuring to see that the four crew members inside that tank came out alive.
39:59I think the Challenger 2 saved my life. The people designed it and designed the armour. I'm very grateful to it.
40:07If it didn't, we wouldn't be sitting here today.
40:14The 60-ton Challengers roared along Iraq's main highways at top speed, using another of their weapons. Pure intimidation.
40:21These thunder runs were used to convince the enemy that resistance was futile.
40:25The respect that the Iraqis used to show the tank, or Dababa as they call it out there, was unbelievable. As soon as they saw the tank come in, they would just stand back and take a step back because they'd never seen anything like it, I don't think.
40:39It had that eerie thing too, that with the crew all buttoned down inside, you can't actually see what's making it go.
40:46And of course, there's 60-odd tons of tank in your backyard. You've got a problem.
40:51A Challenger was built for tank-on-tank warfare on the open plains of Europe, but the crews were now fighting the Fedayeen and the built-up urban areas of Basra.
41:04We thought that was probably one of the worst things that was ever going to happen, was tanks going into the streets, and that it wouldn't be a very good idea at all.
41:15And everyone had always heard horror stories of tanks getting caught in the streets and blown up from behind and shot from above and everything. So it was something we particularly wanted to avoid.
41:23The tanks worked through the city. It was a state-of-the-art operation. Communication was essential as infantry, artillery and air support integrated to ensure one another's survival.
41:36The city was cleared street by street, by boots on the ground, as their eyes in the air assessed enemy action.
41:43The Challenger main battle tank was an essential part of this integrated high-tech military machine.
41:52The British did not lose a tank in Basra because of the way they were deployed, the very thoughtful way in which the battle groups were used.
42:01In just two weeks, the British gained control of Basra. By the end of April 2003, Baghdad had fallen.
42:12The British Challenger and the American Abrams tanks played a major part in the rapid advance across Iraq.
42:18These combat-proven vehicles both strove for the coveted crown of best-named battle tank in the world.
42:25If we are talking power, reliability and everything else, Challenger 2 would take a tremendous amount of beating.
42:31I think it's as good, if not better, than anything else.
42:34Over 90 years since the first tank went into action, these fighting vehicles have proven their worth once again.
42:45When you're fighting any war, it is about, in the end, holding the ground.
42:50And the only two things that can do that are tanks and boots on the ground.
42:54And while you've got boots on the ground, they need protection, and so there's an extent to which you will always need armour.
43:00The main battle tank is part of an integrated way of fighting a battle.
43:05It cannot by itself win, but you cannot win without having a main battle tank.
43:12But the days of the 60-ton supertank could soon be over.
43:16More mobile and agile vehicles may be used in the rapid response to enemy action in urban areas across the globe.
43:23In 20 years' time, we will have medium-weight vehicles, say 20-25 tonnes, but with the same firepower as the current main battle tank.
43:34It will be very electronically orientated. There might even be remotely controlled ones.
43:39But for the men who took Challenger into battle, there would only ever be one war-winning machine.
43:51It is an elite tank for an elite force. Under 400 Challenger 2s have been built.
43:57With its invincible armour and awesome armament, the Challenger is a combat-proven champion that can go the full distance with any of the world's supertanks.
44:06If you just line up all the main battle tanks of this world out on the car park, I will still climb on board Challenger 2 first.
44:14I've got confidence in Challenger 2, and I do believe that it's definitely a battle-winning tank.
44:20Challenger is about shock action. Get in there, do it quickly, get it done with.
44:25And certainly that's what Challenger 2 has proved that she can and will do.
44:30I mean, for us in the Armour Corps, and particularly in the tank regiment, it is the British heavyweight champion.
44:39I mean, for us in the Armour Corps and particularly in the tank regiment, it is the British heavyweight champion.
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